


No Place I'd Rather Be

by LocalVodkaAunt



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Falling In Love, M/M, Pining, roommate au, there is total chaos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 10:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15386685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LocalVodkaAunt/pseuds/LocalVodkaAunt
Summary: Sanji's out on a date, Luffy is desperate for food and Zoro is inclined to help him out. It's just dinner- how hard can it be?





	No Place I'd Rather Be

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for ZoLu week 2018 over on tumblr for the prompt adventure.
> 
> That's it. My first english fic. I'm kind of proud of myself, but I'm sure there will be a lot of mistakes, so please feel free to point them out! Or just drop me a line and say how you've liked it. I hope you enjoy it anyway! :D

Since Zoro moved in with Luffy, every day is an adventure.

 

When Luffy found him, he was about to be taken to the police station for starting a brawl. They put him in handcuffs, sat him down in a police car and Zoro contemplated for a few moments if a warm place to sleep and the possibility of food was worth going to jail for, when suddenly a strawhat appeared in the window to his left.

 

“You seem like a cool guy!”, Luffy shouted through the window, apparently unconcerned about the police officers collecting statements from the witnesses just a few steps away. “What are you in for?”

 

From then on it was sheer luck and a daring escape. Sometimes Zoro is not sure that he has actually stopped fleeing.

 

But now he has a roof over his head, there is water and usually food. At first Zoro had no idea where Luffy got it from, since he doesn’t seem to work either, just comes and goes at odd hours of the night. But then the other took him to a weird bar called The Going Merry, where a chain smoking cook shouted at him and then slammed a plate full of pasta down in front of him.

 

Also he got a round of free drinks, which was sweet, because Zoro hadn’t had any booze since left the Dojo a few months ago.

 

So they get food and drinks from Sanji. Luffy managed to put a crack in the bathtub when he slipped while he simultaneously tried to sing, shower and do acrobatics. Zoro goes job hunting and returns home with empty hands. He trains, mostly he sleeps, because he hasn’t got any real sleep since he took off from home, always on the lookout for threats.

 

Their days feel like routine, except that they aren’t.

 

Somehow Luffy destroyed more furniture in the first week of their acquaintance than Zoro has ever possessed. He frequently brings in new people which seemed to come from anywhere. There’s Usopp, who seemes to lie compulsively but tells the most amazing stories in the process. Nami, who tried to rip Zoro off his wallet until she found out there was no money in it and gave it back. A rockstar whose face Zoro has seen plastered over the whole city in an announcement of an upcoming album and a really weird engineer. He brought a fridge that could shoot ice cubes straight at your face. Zoro has no idea why someone would ever need a thing like that, but he got a good laugh out of it when it bombed Luffy with all its might as the other tried to get some ice for his coke.

 

There are evenings that end with all of them sitting in The Going Merry, munching Sanji’s snacks, joined by various others and sometimes trashing a chair or five. These nights pass by in a blur of drinking, shouting, slammed down cards.

 

But then there are the quiet evenings. They are rare, but sometimes, in between the comings and goings, Luffy will spend a night at home.

 

These are the hours when they lay sprawled out on the old couch, Luffy’s antique game console rattling but the controllers are already discarded. The dim light of the TV illuminates the room in a blueish light und they just lie there, staring at the ceiling.

 

In these moments Zoro is painfully aware of how close the other man is to him, that their legs are almost touching, that it’s so quiet he can hear Liffy breathing. It’s like the world has stopped spinning and they are the only ones left in the universe.

 

They talk about dreams, then. How Luffy wants to be the best player of The Grand Line, a really popular video game. How Zoro never planned for anything but being the best at Kendo and has no idea what to do until he gets there. How they would like to travel the world.

 

Luffy says he worried about every single one of his friends, which no one could have never guessed, because of how reckless he behaves when he is around them. He adopts them like stray cats, Zoro too. He doesn’t know the stories behind Luffy’s friends, but he knows that his roommate probably saved his live on that first night, or at least his sanity.

 

When they lie there like that, even the few inches that separate them seem to be too far. He would like to tell all the things he can’t say out loud. Like that he doesn’t want to disappoint Luffy or that he wants to get stronger so the other man will never feel like he is alone again. But he chokes on the words when he tries to work them up. He would like to let his hands say what his mouth can’t. But he fears that if he does, it would break something between them. Zoro can’t stand to lose again what he just recently gained. He was always better at doing than just talking.

 

Then, as always, morning comes. The world moves on and it’s loud again.

 

~.~

 

Today was a rough day. Zoro turned in at least a dozen job applications but doesn’t expect to hear back from anyone because who would want a guy who just barely finished middle school? He longs to work out the frustration with his sword and then just have dinner with Luffy. Just a few hours where everything seems to be fine, before he starts over tomorrow.

 

But as he kicks off his shoes in the doorway, Luffy is in the kitchen with his head stuck in the fridge, desperately groaning.

 

“What’s up?”, Zoro wants to know as soon as he closed the door behind him.

 

“I’m hungry!”, Luffy complains and slams the door shut. “But Sanji has a date and isn’t in today!”

 

Well, that’s bad news if Zoro’s ever heard any. Hungry Luffy is whiny and does the dumbest things on his quest for food. “So we just have to cook something!”, he answers and hopes that there is something left in the otherwise empty pantries, at least enough to calm Luffy down until they can get something real to eat. The other man’s appetite is amazing. Zoro doesn’t know how he can physically manage to eat the large amounts he calls a meal, but got used to it anyway.

 

“I can’t cook, Zoro!”, Luffy laments on and Zoro sighs. “Just…we’ll manage. Let me have a look!”, he says and starts to open random kitchen cupboards in hope of finding something edible. They kind of stopped grocery shopping with Sanji around, so the odds are definitely not in their favor.

 

The left cupboard atop of the stove hold a lonely pack of rice that has seen better days. But it’s there, so that’s something. He opens the fridge and is surprised to find not only the six pack of beer he brought recently from the money he lent from Nami, but also some pre-packaged meat that looks reasonably fresh.

 

“See? I even bought meat, because I knew it’s Sanjis day off today!”, Luffy exclaims. “But you have to cook it before you can eat it!”

 

“Of course, what did you think?”, Zoro asks, exasperated. Luffy shrugs. He really should have known better. Oh well. Zoro has survived up to this point in his life. How hard can cooking even be? He takes off his jacket and the meat out of the fridge. It’s just heating stuff up until it’s not poisonous anymore. And even if he fails - his and Luffy’s constitution can surely take a bit of bad food. He pulls out a shady looking pan from somewhere and puts it on the stove.

 

“You sure this is a good idea?”, Luffy asks and for a moment the other one doubts himself because if it’s Luffy asking then maybe he overestimated his seriousness of this situation. Still, he got through worse. So he heats up oil and puts the meat in the pan. He supposes now they just wait until its hot enough.

 

“So, how was your day?”, he asks into the room.

 

“Chopper got accepted for med school!”, Luffy proclaims and casually jumps on the counter. “Also Franky tried to fix the beer taps at the Merry and now it has transparent tubes. Kinda looks like piss though!” The last words are almost swallowed by a wild giggle. “Man, Sanji will be so mad when he comes back tomorrow!”

 

“I’d pay to see his face”, Zoro replies as he leans against the fridge and watches the meat simmer away.

 

“Hey-“The other man calls out suddenly, jumps down from the counter and runs in  the direction of his room. He can’t sit still for five minutes, which Zoro will probably never understand. He needs as much rest as practice, hell, he could take a nap right now.

 

“I got you something!” His roommate rummages around for a few moments, all the while telling Zoro what transpired through the day. Luffy often brings stuff home. Sometimes it’s sweets, last week he brought some beer. Zoro appreciates it as the gesture of friendship it obviously is. It’s never a grand gesture, but small things which warm his heart because it means Luffy thought of him while he was out.

 

He doesn’t know if someone ever casually thought of him. If someone ever got him something just to be nice.

 

“So I was at this really weird place earlier”, the younger man shouts through the whole flat, “and there was this guy with a really funny face! His beard looked like whiskers! Like a mouse” He pauses to laugh. “You should have seen it!”

 

Zoro loves it when Luffy laughs. It’s always careless and free, like nothing in the world could ever touch him. He wishes he could laugh like that, just laugh away the pressure on his chest, the grief, the bitterness. Maybe he would have, if he’d seen the mouse.

 

“So he got in a fight with some really ugly guys and left in a hurry. And he forgot this!” Luffy reenters, carrying a small, long package. It’s suspiciously thin, wrapped hurriedly in some kind of white cloth.

 

It kind of looks like a sword. The thought makes his heart sting. He started out with three Katanas when he came to the city, but one of them got stolen. It wasn’t Wado, thank goodness, but when he trains he misses the reassuring weight against his teeth. And it doesn’t feel as good after all the years he spent training with all three.

 

“Luffy, what is this?”, he asks. His voice sounds rough, half hoping his desperate hunch is right, half that’s It’s not and there’s just bread under the wrapping or something equally silly. At least he would know how to react, then.

 

“Take it”, Luffy encourages him and practically shoves the package in his hands. “You will like it!”

 

And Zoro does. even before he removes the cloth he knows he was right. He carried a sword his whole life, is familiar with weight against his hips and legs, the way the hilt feels in his hand like he was born with it.

 

“Why did you do this?”, he wants to know but now his voice is even worse. The situation suddenly feels awkward, mostly because- what now?

 He chooses the obvious. He unwraps it.

 

It’s a thing of beauty. The sheath is made of black steel which gleams in the light of the kitchen lamp. The hilt feels just right in his hand and someone knotted a red ribbon right in front of the guard. It already feels like it’s his. He takes it into his right and swings it experimentally. It makes the prettiest sound as it slices through the air.

 

“You told me you’d use to train with three swords”, Luffy chatters excitedly, “And I’ve seen you train! You look stupid with just two swords in your hands. Even though I don’t know where you’d put the third one, I guess…” he trails of, clearly thinking. Zoro don’t know what is more confusing- that Luffy instinctively picked the right sword for him or that he actually watched him train. Zoro certainly didn’t invite him.

 That should bother him more than it does. Maybe he got used to Luffy only having the most basic set of limits.

 

“Hey, what’s that smell?”, his roommate interrupts his thoughts. Zoro sniffs and- oh crap, it’s the meat! The odor of burning food fills the air and he quickly turn around and wrenches the pan from the stove. There goes their dinner. He tries to separate the steak from the bottom of the pan only to find that it sticks close to it. It is black on the edges and still kind of raw in the middle. The room smells disgusting.

 

 

“Oh man, that sucks!”, Luffy exclaims. “I’m really hungry! Can we still save it?”

 Zoro shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

 “But what if we cut of the badly burned edges and try it again?”

 Almost inclined to shut his roommate down, Zoro turns around but rethinks as he sees the others hopeful face. “Well, the pan is a goner”, he says.

 

“Maybe, but what about the oven? You can bake meat, right?”, the other counters. That’s sounds like a really bad idea. Zoro is sure there is more to it than it seems and it will probably take forever. “What if we mess up?”

 

“How can you mess up putting something in the oven? We can both make pizza! This is not so different, right?”

 

His roommate has got a point. They just put it on a baking tray and wait until the steak looks edible. No big deal. Luffy will be in a better mood, Zoro can go train and tomorrow Sanji will be there again to save them from such messes in the future. “Alright”, he replies. “Gimme the baking paper” He doesn’t want to risk a burnt pan and tray. They own not enough kitchen utensils as it is.

 

Cutting the edges off the meat is more difficult than they first thought. But Zoro is good with a knife and with a little help from Luffy, who keeps a tight grip on the pan, he manages to save a good part of the steak. They drape it on the baking tray. “How hot?”, Zoro asks after closed the oven door.

 

“Dunno. Maybe we should just act like its pizza?” And because none of them knows any better, they just do, and actually set a timer on Zoros phone so they won’t forget again.

 

“Okay!”, Luffy jubilates as they turn away from the stove. “We’ll have food in no time!” Always the optimist, he smiles and stalks out of the Kitchen, but then turns around as he seems to remember something. “He, Zoro!”, he shouts despite the other man standing right next to him. “We have some time now! Try out your swords” Suddenly he seems so excited, his words almost sound like an order. But Zoro is inclined to follow them. Between all the turnout over their dinner he totally forgot the gift Luffy made him.

 

“Sure” he says and vanishes into the room to grab his other two katanas. He is eager to see how the swords will feel in combination, how their weight shifts in his hands and his mouth. He hasn’t trained properly for so long, the expectation to feel whole again makes him fuzzy.

 

He returns, binds the sheathes to his belt and feels the reassuring pressure of the third katana against his hips and thighs.

 

Finally.

With one confident motion he unsheathes all of them. Wado in this mouth, swords in both his hands, he feels adrenalin pulse through his body. God, how he missed this.

 

He is dimly aware of Luffy watching him as he spins around for the first time, swinging bows with both his hands and hearing his weapons sing. It may be the most beautiful thing he has ever heard. He brings them together in front of him, hears the sound of metal clashing with metal, feels the blades strife against each other, each complimenting its counterpart perfectly. It’s gorgeous.

 

He hears Luffy giggling gleefully and unconsciously he joins in, laughing as be lifts the swords over his head, Wado pressing reassuringly against his teeth. He gathers momentum, stretches his arms to the side, bows to the right, spins and-

Sees flames in the oven.

 

He needs a second to process the picture in front of him. Behind the oven door, the steak and baking paper have caught fire and flames simmer on the baking tray. A fair bit of smoke has already gathered on the top and threatens to escape into the kitchen.

 

Swords clattering to the ground Zoro yelps forward, hears a confused huff from behind before tearing open the door and breathing in some of the smoke that leaks into the room. He coughs, and then his brain kicks in again. “Luffy! Fuck! Get Water!”, he shouts while turning down the temperature until the oven is turned off completely. “Now!”, he yells, as he sees how dangerously big the flames have gotten since he brought them out in the open.

 

Luffy, thank goodness, is quick to react he lets out a surprise scream at seeing the flames and jumps over to the sink, filling some of the dirty dishes that are stapled there with fresh water before handing it to Zoro as fast as he can.

 

With the help of two glasses and a bowl they manage to extinguish the flames. Just a big clump of burned meat stays behind and smoke still fills the whole kitchen. Zoro opens all the windows to let in the cool night air. He takes a deep breath. “Well, fuck!”, he curses.

 

Did they really manage to set the kitchen on fire?

 

Luffy comes up to him and coughs before inhaling. He lets his head sink to his chest. At first Zoro is worried that something happened to his roommate, but then the other man breaks out into hysterical laughter. After a few moments of helpless giggling, he manages to get out a few words. “Wanted to- give you-the sword so bad. Set the kitchen- on fire-instead”, he trails off as another wave shakes his body.

 

It takes a few seconds for Zoro to catch the meaning of what Luffy said to him. It’s actually pretty hilarious and now that he sees it, he too breaks out into laughter. “We’re helpless”, he yelps between to breaths. He felt so right in that moment, dancing with his swords, so strong and confident, all the while their dinner was literally burning right next to him. It’s insane.

 

He really doesn’t know how they managed to survive this long.

 

The noise of their snorts and giggles trails into night as they repeatedly try to pull themselves together just to break out helplessly again when their eyes meet. “Sanji must never have a date again!”, Luffy exclaims as he managed to calm down at least a bit. “We need him with us!” Zoro, suddenly feeling weak, slides down on the wall next to the window and leans his head against its cool surface.

 

“Fine, but you tell him that”, he grumbles.

 

“I will”, Luffy snickers. “Sanji likes me” Luffy is probably the only man Sanji is ever nice to. He is mean even to his father.

 

Out of breath and coming down from the rush of adrenaline, Zoro sits quietly for a few moments until Luffy comes to sit right next to him. He looks a bit disheveled, like he just worked out. His eyes gleam and the corners of his mouth are still turned upwards as if he couldn’t stop amusing himself. Zoro sympathizes, this evening still feels a bit surreal to him.

 

“I really like the sword”, he says eventually. After the noise of their laughter, the silence between them seems heavy, like a weighty curtain separating them.

 “I’m glad!”, Luffy answers and leans back with a satisfied grin. “You look really strong with it, too!”

 “I am really good”, Zoro offers, drawing another giggle from his friend.

 “I know” he replies. “I knew the moment I saw you.”

 

Zoro always wanted to know why Luffy helped him escape that night. Was he just looking for a thrill? Did he really know instantly that they would become friends? He searches Luffy’s face for clues but the other one gives nothing away. “I’m glad you found me” he says instead, quietly. And he is. Even though they almost set their whole flat on fire, the still is no dinner and his plans for the night are utterly ruined now he feels the afterglow of their excitement. He is intensely aware of the night around them, the evading scent of smoke in the air and Luffy’s presence next to him. His heart still pounds loud in his ears and he feels a lightness he usually only feels after a victorious battle.

 

He loves it.

He craves it.

 

Every day with Luffy feels like an adventure. Nothing ever just is the way it should be, normal or boring. Zoro was never one to sit out his life. He always had a dream. Goals. He looked for this feeling in fights and in gutters, but he found it trying to cook a steak an eight pm with his roommate.

 

And he hopes it will be like this forever. Zoro got so used to wandering, to not knowing where he’ll end up next, but he wants to hold on this.

 

He turns his head to find Luffy watching him. The other’s eyes are glued to his face, why, Zoro doesn’t know. They just look at each other for long, stretching seconds that feel strangely important even though nothing is happening.

 

Like the both of them are waiting for something. But they don’t know what it is.

 

“Hey, you have something”- Luffy begins but then falls silent again. Is Zoro wrong or does his voice sound a little rougher than just moments ago? Something seems to be different, he just can’t make out what exactly it is. But then Luffy leans over to him and at first he doesn’t know why. But then it doesn’t matter because Luffy’s hand is on his face, touching his cheek.

 

He has no words for what he feels as his friends skin touches his. They have touched before, hands on shoulders, brushing against each other in passing, legs pushing when they are gaming. But it was never this deliberate, so significant. Right.

 

It’s like there is a space made especially for the other man’s hand in his face, how it fits so perfectly against his cheekbones, little finger curling against his jaw. Zoro didn’t know how cold his skin feels until Luffy warms him, his eyes set on the spot where his thumb brushes skin.

 

He strokes once, Twice. Zoro has been touched before. By friends, Training partners, He even distantly remembers the way his parents’ touches used to feel when he was really young. They never made him feel as if lightning struck his. Like he was on fire. Like he wanted to clasp on tight and never let go.  

 

He feels frozen on the spot, unable to move or breathe, just feeling the other the other man move his finders over his skin leaving a trail of longing Zoro never felt before.

 

Then it is over.

Luffy retracts his hands and looks up sheepishly. “You had soot right there”, he says, gesturing vaguely to his own cheek.

Zoro slowly blinks, looking into Luffy’s eyes, which seem as unconcerned and daring as ever.

“Okay”, he murmurs. “Thank you.”

 

 

He suddenly feels like everything is picking up pace again, hears the noise from the street, sees the open door of the oven. water drips from the baking tray and onto the floor. Next to it lie the dishes he used to purge the fire, on the counter is the burnt pan.

 

He is not really sure what just happened. He feels more uncertain today like he has in a long time. So he does what he always does. He moves on and sees where it will take him.

 

“I’m starving”, he states, carefully getting up. “Come on, let’s get some bad shawarma or something!” He looks down to Luffy, who just grins.

 “Yep, that’s a good idea”, his roommate answers and jumps to his feet. “I think I have some money lying around somewhere.” Zoro really doubts that. But what’s another close escape, even if it’s just for cheap takeout?

 

As he stands there waiting, he feels a weird feeling spread through his chest. Its tight and warm at the same time. A little bit like suffocating. He clenches and unclenches his fists to let go of the pressure. Suddenly going out with Luffy doesn’t seem like a great idea anymore, he suddenly feels kind of exhausting and ready to go to bed. The last hour was a really wild ride and the same things that just felt like giving him life now just seem to drag him down. Even his knees feel kind of weak.

 

But then Luffy comes out of his room, pouch in hand and grinning widely. Zoro pulls himself together and tells himself that some food will lift his spirits. Luffy hurries to put on his shoes, chatting excitedly about all the things he could eat right now. Zoro just lets himself get pulled into the conversation, feeling like he’s borrowing energy from his ever vibrant roommate.

 

They turn of the lights leaving the disaster that was supposed to be dinner behind them. As they leave the flat, Luffy rambles on and on about one thing or another or how hungry he is now, gesticulating wildly, looping his right arm conveniently around Zoro’s shoulders. He doesn’t comment on it, just continues talking, describing some kind of enormous cake with cotton candy filling, tucking his roommate closer to him in the process. It makes Zoro smile. And he knows then, that whatever happens after this hell of an evening, there is nowhere he’d rather be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> On a different note: I lived in a really crappy flat once and managed to set the kitchen on fire just like the two of them did in the fic. Life is bitter. 
> 
> My tumblr is zorotrash, check it out if you wanna.


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